Asked on Jul 29, 2013

Looking for suggestions on turning these into landscape lighting

Marian D
by Marian D
I am a lover of bunnies so when I saw these a while back I just knew that I needed to buy one. After staring at him for a week I came up with the idea that they would make the cutest landscape lights and bought 5 more. I am the type of person that is full of great ideas and fairly crafty but my electrical experience is limited to changing lightbulbs so my friend Katie @upcycledtreasures suggested that I post a request for suggestions here. I plan to use them in an area that is heavily shaded so solar is really not an option. I found a slightly larger lantern that I can get more of so I might be able to canibalize some inexpensive low voltage lighting (even the kind that comes up from the ground since I am not sure if his arms are hollow?) but now I am stuck so any help would be greatly appreciated.
  21 answers
  • Melody Melody on Jul 29, 2013
    No suggestions, but had to say that is a wonderful idea... will be so cute!
  • Z Z on Jul 29, 2013
    This is adorable! My best idea would be to use the low voltage lighting as you mentioned and use small black PVC pipe to run the wire up from the ground to go under and through a drill hole in the bottom of the lantern. By the way, where did you find these? I would love to have one since we have a bunny habitat in our back acre.
  • Paula Dunn Paula Dunn on Jul 30, 2013
    I love these too and am also a bunny fan!! I hope I can see the results of what you come up with!!
  • Marian D Marian D on Jul 30, 2013
    I found them at Pier 1 Imports. They are sold out on line but I got lucky and found one store that had several left. I will hopefully get this figured out in the coming month or so and will attach an update photo.
  • Z Z on Jul 30, 2013
    Thank you Marian. We have three stores locally so I might get lucky and another within fifty miles so I might get lucky and find a couple.
  • Diane Diane on Jul 30, 2013
    will a solar light fit into the lanteran? like a stick one?
  • Marian D Marian D on Jul 30, 2013
    Diane - they will be used under the canopy of a huge California Pepper tree so I am not sure if solar is an option. It would be the most affordable way. In regards to the size Pier 1 also sells a slightly larger lantern that should fit a smaller fixture which I plan to pick up this weekend.
  • Marian D Marian D on Jul 30, 2013
    Becky - if you go on line the Pier 1 website will allow you to type in your zip code and it tells you how many are available at the local stores. I would call in advance to confirm but it worked great for me. Website said they had 6 and they actually had 8.
  • Z Z on Jul 30, 2013
    Oh I forgot about that feature Marian. Thanks for the reminder. I'll do that. I agree to still call first. Especially since I'm over a half hour away from the closest one. I checked and one of them does have two. Ofcourse it's almost an hour away .
  • Tracy Bromage Tracy Bromage on Jul 31, 2013
    use solar lights you can buy them individual and no flat floor lights. N o need for electrical then. Cutest bunny ever. :D
  • Cindy Chadwick Cindy Chadwick on Jul 31, 2013
    I would buy 1 solar light just to see if it would work, I have solar lights under my huge oak trees that has very limited sunlight
  • Therese Ryan-Haas Therese Ryan-Haas on Jul 31, 2013
    Bet you can find the old low voltage plug landscape lights type on ebay. Cant bet you wouldn't see the wire but you could just remove the fixsture by unattaching the wires. See if the part that holds the bulb will fit( or just wire it in) in the bottom of the lantern and run wire from one to the other. Or What about those large bulb Xmass lights. They would close to each other tho.
  • Therese Ryan-Haas Therese Ryan-Haas on Jul 31, 2013
    OR... if all else fails .... how tall are the cute guys? You could just put these tulip lights over them. That way you can showcase the cuties. :http://www.affordablequalitylighting.com/outdoor-lighting/led-outdoor-lights/led-garden-landscape/led-6-pathway-light-tulip-kit/
  • Marian D Marian D on Jul 31, 2013
    Therese.... They are actually quite tall - maybe 15"-18". i think I will go spend an hour or so at my local home improvement center this weekend. I think that with the slightly larger lanterns that I found I can use a simple low voltage fixture that can come up through the bottom and since the lantern sits only an inch or two off the ground the pipe part won't be so noticeable. Will keep you posted.
  • Sparkles Sparkles on Aug 01, 2013
    I would get some PVC piping. Use the big outdoor christmas lights. Drill a hole in the bottom of each lantern. Set them where you want them. Now run the PVC pipe under the bunnies to see where you need a light to come thru. Drill a hole in each of those places in the PVC pipe. Run the christmas lights thru the piping. Stick out a light bulb in each hole you drilled. The rest of the lights will be hidden inside the pipe. Then just plug them in.
  • Eileen Smith Eileen Smith on Aug 01, 2013
    very cute, just wanted to wish you luck and hope you find something that works. Great little whimsy around the yard.
  • Terri Austill Terri Austill on Aug 01, 2013
    You could use battery operated candles with timers.
  • Marian D Marian D on Aug 02, 2013
    originally I thought I would use the battery operated candles but the batteries only last about 20 days so basically that means 20 nights of light and 100 nights of darkness. I need to work with my strengths and changing batteries is not one of them I am afraid. I think I may have it figured it out and will post photo's assuming it works.
  • LandlightS LandlightS on Aug 02, 2013
    If you want to, send them to me and I wire the for Low Voltage, including a LED lamp in each one. Or go on-line and you will find low voltage wedge base sockets and wire them yourself, Plan on bringing the wire from the lantern, taped or tie wrapped to the holder and into the body of the rabbit and out the bottom. Leave at least 1 foot of wire out the body of the rabbit for connection to the low voltage circuit. If you use LED lamps, you can use 16 gauge wire for the whole system. The home centers/big box sores will not have these low volt sockets of LED lamps, but they show have a low wattage output transformer. Here is a link for a t-5 wedge base socket: http://www.amazon.com/D2600-Voltage-Wedge-Socket-Lamps/dp/B00BBEBSAA and alink for the led lamp: http://www.lbclighting.com/led-wedge.html If you need additional help finding parts, let me know Gary
  • Sandra Sandra on Mar 11, 2016
    Certainly you can use the sun! Buy inexpensive solar lights, take them apart and make it work on your bunny and the other items you may have. I have a "stone" I bought at the Dollar Tree (I call it "The Real Dollar Store") some years ago and it is still working. It's only about 2 inches square cube and may be just the size you want. I saw some in the store near me just lately, so I think they still have them. and, remember, there are slim solar lights now, too. That might work for you when you take it down to as small as you can. Take the steak off and go from there. Good luck. BTW, I love your bunny!